John w



(No Model.)

J'. W. FINDMORE.

GONNBGTING ROD. Y No. 554,727. Patented Feb. 18, 1896.

WITNESSES:

NITED STATES PATENT muon.

JOHN WV. PRIDMORE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE MCCORMICK HARVESTING MACHINE COMPANY.

CONNECTING-ROD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 554,727, dated February 18, 1896.

Application filed May4,1895. Serial No. 548,111. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN W. PRIDMORE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Connecting-Rods for Harvesting-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

There is, perhaps, no part of a harvesting'- ro machine, especially of a mower, that is so liable to breakage and wear and to cause trouble as the connecting-rod that transmits the motion from the crank to the reciprocating knife. The rapid vibrations will, after a time, cause the iron and steel pitmen to crystallize and become brittle, and when made of wood, as most of the connecting-rods now are, the straps on the extremities for connecting to the knife-head and crank-pin cannot be so zo tightly riveted but what, in the dry regions of the Vest, they will in the course of time become loosened.

My invention relates to an improvement in these connecting-rods in the' form of a hollow 2 5 tube, which does not crystallize as does a solid rod or bar and which has an amount of resiliency not possessed by the solid connectingrod, and it also has to do with the means for attaching the straps at the ends to this tube, as

3o will be more fully pointed out in the specification and claim. An improved crank-box for connecting-rods is also shown in the drawings, and will be described in the specification.

Figure l is a view of the connecting-rod 3 5 with so much of the crank and knife as is necessary to show its position and the place where its use is most desirable. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view, partly in section, showingthe crank-box and the connecting-rod with the 4o means of fastening the straps thereto, the rod being reinforced at the ends wit-h a plug of wood or other material. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view on line 3 3 lof Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows, to more clearly show the improvement in the box for the crank-shaft.

The main or body portion of the connecting-rod A is formed of a tube or pipe of sufficient strength to stand the strain of driving 5o the knife without danger of bending and of sufcient length to connect the crank with the knife. The amount of material necessary to reciprocate the knife when disposed in the form of a tube will be of less weight than would a solid rod, and the crystallization of the molecules of the metal from the constant jar and vibration will be greatly lessened owing to the fact that the vibration is prevented to a great extent because of the hollowness of the rod. 6o

In connecting rods for harvesting machines, especially for mowing machines, where the cutting-bar has to travel over rough ground, it is necessary, in that the bar may conform to the ground, to have the connections at the crank and at the knife such as to allow a universal motion. In forming these connections no plan has been found so satisfactory as the use of metal straps, which can be drawn together and kept tight by strong 7o bolts and the wear of the joints in this manner taken up. These straps, however, must be attached to the rod with great care or they cannot be kept tight. The rivets must be drawn very tight, and it has been found pref- 7 5 erable to use cold-drawn rods of an exact size, riveting with the hammer both ends of the rod. Such drawing of the rivet will tend to collapse the tube and also to buckle the rivet, while the rivet-holes will weaken the connect- 8o ing-rod. I have remedied these defects by driving into the ends of the rod pieces of material B to reinforce the ends. I have found, in practice, that plugs of wood tightly driven will prevent the collapsing of the pipe when 8 5 riveting; will prevent the rivets from buckling and in the lield relieve the concussion, and will strengthen the connecting-rod at the ends and conform to the inner surface of the pipe after riveting, supporting and strength- 9o ening it. These straps that are riveted to the rod are connected at one end to the knife and at the other to a box that works upon the crank-pin. This box is rotated with great rapidity by the crank and must be frequently well oiled. It has been common to form a large oil chambeno'r reservoir upon this box, which, being iilled with oil and plugged to prevent the escape of the oil, would lessen the necessity of the operator stoppinghis machine roo so often to attend to the oiling. In the field, however, such plugs and stopples are liable to become lost and the operator has no means of replacing them. The oil filledA into the large reservoir will, by the rapid rotations of the box, fiy out and waste. I have remedied this by casting a large reservoir R upon the side of the box S and extending transversely through it a shelf R', which shelf is located somewhat above the center of the reservoir and extends transversely across it, the inner portion o' being eut away to allow the oil which is turned in at the oil-hole o" to flow along the shelf and into the reservoir below. This reservoir is formed when the box is east by means of a core, and the bushing with which the box is fitted is provided with an oil-hole, which is positioned at this reservoir, which bushing forms one side of the reservoir, as shown in Fig. E2. It will thus be seen that oil which is poured in thron gh the small hole o" will iiow along the shelf R and into the lower reservoir through the openings r. The rapid rotation of the crank .will agitate the oil in the receptaele and it will beat back and forth in the reservoir, but the shelf will prevent its being thrown ont of the oil-hole fr', which is located above the shelf and on that side away from the openings in the shelf that extend into the lower reservoir.

Having now described my invention, what l claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, iS

The combination in a connecting-rod of a pipe, wooden reinforcing-plugs inthe ends, straps extending over the ends, and rivets passing through the straps, the pipe, and the plugs, substantially as set forth.

J OIIN XV. PRIDMORE. Titnessesz R. B. SWIFT, JOHN M. CULvnn. 

